EIGHT and WEST Operating Normally, While Only Timelesz Faces Renaming Amidst Reasons Behind Three Former Johnny’s Groups’ Fate

On July 1st, last year’s United Nations working group expert who investigated Johnny’s sexual misconduct issues in Japan, political scientist Pichamon Yeophantong, spoke in Tokyo. “To prevent recurrence, it is crucial to discuss how to protect the working environment in the entertainment industry and translate it into legislative measures,” he urged.

 

“This has developed into a major issue that can no longer be contained within Japan. Currently, NHK and TV Tokyo are still refraining from hiring new talents from the former Johnny’s for their shows.

According to SMILE-UP., the company that took over compensation duties from the former Johnny’s Office, as of June 28, out of 999 reported victims, the Victim Relief Committee has notified 505 people of their compensation amounts, which is about half. It seems it will still take quite some time to complete the compensation process,” said a national newspaper social affairs reporter.

In response to the sexual misconduct issues, the former Johnny’s Office has completely eliminated the ‘Johnny’ branding. This started with a name change for the company, and the names of the CD debut group candidate talents were unified under ‘Junior’ from the East’s ‘Johnny’s Jr.’ and the West’s ‘Kansai Johnny’s Jr.’. Among the CD debut groups, ‘Kanjani∞’ was renamed ‘SUPER EIGHT’ (hereafter referred to as EIGHT), ‘Sexy Zone’ became ‘timelesz’, and ‘Johnny’s WEST’ was renamed ‘WEST.’.

EIGHT, which was renamed in February, had its Fuji TV show ‘Kanjani∞ no Ato wa Gojiyū ni’ retitled to ‘SUPER EIGHT no Ato wa Gojiyū ni’, but the program ended in March. However, their regular programs ‘Ariehen Sekai’ (TV Tokyo) and ‘Kanjam Kanzen Nen SHOW’, which was retitled to ‘EIGHT-JAM’ (TV Asahi) in April this year, continue as before, along with individual member activities and music activities.

WEST., which was renamed in October last year, continues to appear in their regular program ‘Hirameke! Unpyoko Channel’ (TBS). After the group renaming, they released a single and a best album, with sales remaining largely unchanged compared to before the rename. However, the group faced a scandal due to some members’ thoughtless remarks that caused a significant backlash.